Face covers and face masks are worn for a variety of purposes, including for protection from inclement weather by outdoor enthusiasts, climbers, hunters, skiers, snowmobilers, motorcyclists, constructions workers, utility workers, and others who are frequently exposed to cold weather, sleet and snow. Masks are also used to protect users against the sun and sunburn, to prevent wind burns, and to guard against rain. Some covers and masks are designed for protection against facial injuries from impact, for example, from hockey pucks, baseballs, and the like during athletic games. Industry specific masks and face guards are also very common, such as surgical masks for protecting medical staff against infection and welding headgear for protecting the face against flash burn and sparks.
Human skin and tissue can be damaged by exposure to various elements and environmental forces, including sun, cold, wind, moisture, and flying debris. Chemical and natural lotions and creams provide some protection against sun and wind, but only direct covering by solid materials, such as textiles, composites, and animal hide, protect against all the aforementioned environmental forces. For protection against and comfort among these environmental forces, an array of body coverings exist, including the aforementioned face covers and face masks. Existing face covers are made from an array of materials including neoprene, fleece, nylon, and leather. Most face-covering masks cover just the nose and mouth using a single piece of material that is attached to the user's head.
For ventilation, some face masks include a series of small holes in the face-covering material, while some include complex plastic and wool air filtering systems attached to the material of the face-cover. Many mouth coverings are impractical if the user needs access to his or her mouth for eating, drinking, communication, and the like. In addition, no matter the type of mouth-covering, water vapor in the form of breathing exhaust tends to condense on the mask material around the user's nose and mouth from which it is expelled. This water-vapor, which either freezes or remains wet, is uncomfortable against and can irritate the user's face. Warm air, when expelled from under the face mask, typically does not escape into the atmosphere immediately, but instead travels between the mask and the user's face until it reaches the upper edge of the mask below the user's eyes, where it is exhausted, oftentimes condensing on a user's glasses or goggles as fog. For users who need to see while protecting their eyes with eyewear, preventing goggle-fog created by breathing exhaust mismanagement is of great concern.
Many face covers and masks envelop the entire nose or cover nearly all of the nose. As warm air exiting the nose rises, any material covering the nostrils prevents nose exhaust from immediately escaping into the atmosphere. This nasal breathing exhaust becomes trapped under the mask where it naturally travels up between the mask and the face to the eye opening, where it is expelled, oftentimes fogging up a wearer's glasses or goggles. As many people wear face-covers in combination with glasses or goggles, and require that the eyewear functions properly, getting as much of the nasal exhaust away from the mask can be highly desirable.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,704,063, which issued to Mark Tilden on Jan. 6, 1998, presents a face protector with a covering body for covering a user's face below the eyes, and attachments for attaching the covering body to the user's head. The face protector includes a “breathing vent skirt” for covering the user's nose. One drawback to this design is that Tilden's breathing vent skirt leaves the nostrils exposed and does not properly protect the tip of the nose. In addition, Tilden's nose vent skirt extends from the tip of the nose to a point “so as to be at a level at least as low as the upper edge of the upper lip of the user.” Consequently, as seen in the various views provided by Tilden, the skirt extends down too far and traps a great deal of nose and mouth exhaust. In so doing, warm air is forced to travel up between the mask and the user's face until it is exhausted along the upper edge of the mask beneath the eyes where it can condense on goggle lenses. Moreover, warm mouth-exhaust, together with breathing exhaust trapped by the nose vent skirt, is collected between the user's face and the mask where it condenses.
Many face-coverings cover the entire face above and below the mouth with one unit of soft material. These masks are pulled over the head and down over the face, or they are set on the face and strapped behind the head, for example, using a hook-and-loop system like Velcro™ Masks like these include holes for the eyes, nostrils, and mouth. As the human head is two pieces that open and close at the mouth, hinged at the jaw, a mask that is tight to the bridge the nose and the bottom of the jaw would obstruct and inhibit the opening of the mouth and, in general, normal facial movement. Certain environments and users do not require protection for the entire face. Two-piece face covers, in which the first part covers the nose and cheeks of the user, the most sensitive portions of the face, and the second part covers the jaw, would allow the user to cover only half of his or her face if desired.
Some two-piece masks suggest a bottom section that is like a bandana or scarf. These designs are undesirable because they can easily get caught in a zipper and typically do not properly insulate the face because they do not contour the face well enough to retain warm air between the face and mask. The lower piece of such masks are typically attached to the user's head by a lone strap which extends around the neck. However, such strapping means are ineffective to keep the lower piece in place. In addition, the bottom piece of these two-part systems are spaced from the upper piece and, thus, do not completely cover the user's cheeks. This leaves skin exposed to the elements and also allows heat to escape. Also, the upper piece of many two-piece masks does not properly insulate the tip of the nose or, conversely, presents too much material projecting downward from the tip of the nose which catches breathing exhaust instead of properly venting the exhaust.
Most face covers fasten behind the head, opposite the nose. Unfortunately, such straps typically do not stay in place when a hat or helmet is slid over the strap. Since many people who wear a face mask also wear a hat or helmet, the ability to maintain proper attachment of the mask while sliding a hat or helmet over the strap is often of great concern. Also, the normal movement of the face and jaw tends to cause such strapping means to slip down around the back of the neck where it loses tension and, thus, no longer properly secures the mask to the user's face.
The tip of the nose on the human face is one of the most susceptible to frost bite and one of the most sensitive to sunburn and skin cancer. Most face covers either leave the nose completely exposed, envelop the entire nose, or cover the nose with material that projects beyond and below it, but not that directly covers or wraps around the tip of the nose. Sun exposure can cause unwanted redness, painful sunburns, and can lead to skin cancer. For these reasons people wear large-brimmed hats, sunglasses, and hoods to cover their faces. People also use an array of sun-blocking creams, and lotions, some of which irritate the skin. Many face covers are not made of fabric suited specifically for blocking the sun.